This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Improvements have been continuously made to the distributed control system (DCS) and accompanying graphical user interface Blu-Ice, which was first used for non-crystalline scattering/diffraction experiments in 2004, in an effort to make beam line control and data collection highly efficient, intuitive, and user friendly. In concert with the construction of the new BL4-2 station, a major upgrade of DCS/Blu-Ice was performed. The upgraded DCS/Blu-Ice has a new user administration protocol, which eliminated the need of user accounts on multiple computers and thus made the software more secure and user friendly. The upgrade also included the most recent hardware servers, which include additional Galil servers for motion control and a new server for pulse and voltage monitoring. These new hardware servers enabled elimination of the old motion control and pulse counting hardware, and made beam line control and data acquisition more smooth and reliable. Besides the major upgrades, new and improved capabilities developed this year include: 1) new graphical user interfaces for staff members to control beam line optics;2) new virtual combination devices for real motors that were previously not controlled by a Galil;3) new tools for staff members to customize beam line control and optimization;4) new and improved functionalities in solution sample handling with a flow cell. The upgraded and improved DCS/Blu-Ice has been successfully tested and used on the new BL4-2 station by the staff members as well as general users.